Sir.M Visweswarayya,the Spearhead of Industrialisation
It is indeed Sir. M Visweswarayya who spearheaded the movement for industrialisation by his slogan "Industralise or perish" & he became a legend in his own time and was called "the father of planning in India." Historians refer to him as the architect of modern Mysore. He was appointed Diwan of erstwhile Mysore state from 1912-1918. He lived beyond his hundred years, being active to the very end. As a first step to create an infrastructure to make Mysore an industrialised state, he setup the Mysore Economic Conference, to outline plans for industry. Then he founded the Mysore Bank, the Chamber of Commerce, Chamarajendra Technical Institute, The Mechanical Engineering School, etc. The Mysore University, Kannada Sahitya Parishad, Century Club, Modern Hindu Hotel, Mysore-Arasikere railway line, Chickabalapur rail link, Sandal Oil factory, Silk factory, Agricultural school were all started by him to serve as a base for building an industrial state.	Sir. M Visweswarayya
Also he built the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam (124 feet with sluice gates) and Bhadravati Iron and Steel factory. He had also suggested many more railway lines, he activated the work of the Representative Assembly and started the Mysore Economic Journal. Bharat Ratna was bestowed to him during 1955. With the benefit of these measures given to government enterprise by him and the subsequent pro-public sector policy implemented under the planning regime, the state has become an industrial metropolis in the country. Many central enterprises in the heavy industries like, BEML, BHEL, HAL, Wheel & Axle plant, electronic giants such as BEL & ITI are established in Bangalore. From a basically agricultural economy, Karnataka has evolved into an industrial one. It has today about 978 large and medium scale industrial units with a total investment exceeding Rs. 156,545 crores employing more than 4 lakh people.

Busy Capital
Bangalore today has become an Industrial metropolis. As an electronic city it has already spread over 300 acres and has become a nerve center of activity. It has become a paradise of electronic whiz kids, as the major manufacturers and buyers like ITI, BHEL, BEL, were all originally started here. Out of the 430 major software companies, 87 companies have thier establishments in Bangalore, as against 110 companies in Chennai, the second biggest in this line. Karnataka has a lions share in exports of software in India. During 1997-98 India exported Rs. 6500 crores of software products and Karnataka had a share of Rs. 2000 crores out of it.

Information Technology

Karnataka has become the Information Technology (IT) powerhouse of India. It is bidding to retain it's pre-eminent position as the second most important global center after the silicon valley of California. Bangalore is extending it's growth in this sphere and the state is attempting to help it's growth to other centers across the state, so that it becomes the largest IT and the first to initiate a venture capital fund to invest in companies undertaking IT projects, operating primarily in Karnataka.

Power
The oldest power station in Asia, was setup at Shivanasamudra as early as in 1902, to produce
hydro-electric power. Thus the state is a forerunner in power generation. Due to rapid industrialisation, expansion of agriculture increased per-capita consumption of power and vagaries of the monsoon, the state has started feeling a shortage of power from 1970. The state setup a Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL) to handle the planning, construction, operation and maintenance of power projects.

The KPCL today manages 30 dams and 18 power stations with an installed capacity of 3628 MW., generating annually 16,513 million units. Today a strong infrastructure coupled with modern concepts, managerial and technical, have enabled the KPCL to gear up to meet the challenges of the rising energy demands of the state. Private power corporations too are encouraged and a number of mini schemes have been entrusted to them. The projects that have been finalised, like the Cogentrix, Nagarjuna Power Corporation, Joint Power Project near Bidadi and 4 barge mounted projects when completed are expected to enhance the availability of power by 2900 MWs.